"I don't think anyone can survive the 'now'
demands of their consumers, users and, in
our case, members, if they don't deploy an
open-architecture environment."
-Keith Wilson, technical architect, USAA
permits the company to leverage
its large amount of data and the
30 years' worth of investment
in existing programs, no matter
the language used to develop
them. This could all be done
without creating new integration
interfaces every time a new
business capability was requested
and no matter the platform on
which the resources are located.
"Some of what we're going
through involves changing
platforms from the mainframe
to a middle tier. The services
and data may still be on the
mainframe, so we're essentially
developing a hybrid platform
that will mostly involve Java*
and whatever else we need to
surround the data residing on
IBM Z*," Wilson notes.
But as USAA learned early in its
RESTful journey, some new Java
applications would run perfectly
fine on the IBM z Integrated
Information Processor while
others-which may have had
heavy I/O or a lot of inter-language
communications with non-Java
programs-would fall back to the
general processor. So the question
became: Did USAA want to use
Java for all new applications, or
just for some parts?
Open and Standardized
Another issue the company had
to address was whether new Java
applications could communicate
via custom USAA-developed
infrastructure pieces that
would continue to be used for
its mainframe-based business
applications.
Wilson soon discovered the
answers to those questions. As he
explains, "If you can develop an
application using just Java, it's
worthwhile doing so. There are
some challenges involved in the
intermixing of Java with non-Java
you have to overcome, but if
you're running under CICS*,
there are some good APIs that
can call out to non-Java programs
from Java programs that work
pretty well."
The larger solution, however,
came in the form of RESTful APIs.
Open yet standardized, embracing
defined formats such as XML,
HTML and JSON, RESTful APIs
can be built to meet developers'
particular needs, across different
application types and their
supporting platforms, including
the mainframe and the cloud.
"I don't think anyone can
survive the 'now' demands of their
consumers, users and, in our case,
members, if they don't deploy an
open-architecture environment. At
this point, it's become an essential
part of offering services that make a
difference to end users. Without it,
you may be doomed," Wilson says.
And this isn't mere hyperbole.
If an organization can't develop
and roll out new services in a
timely fashion, its competitors
might. As with USAA, they're
getting an immediate leg up by
quickly meeting market demands
and, when using open RESTful
APIs, future proofing themselves
when it comes to creating as yet
unknowable technologies.
For its part, USAA is slowly
and deliberately rolling out
RESTful APIs on a use-by-use
basis. For example, it's phasing
it in for service-rep interactions,
including for mobile and browser
applications. Other use cases are
either in the proof-of-concept
stage or have already been or are
soon to launch, as in the case of
its internal service-rep programs.
Flexible and Mobile
R
By developing
RESTful
APIs, USAA
would have a
foundation in
place that allows
it to develop
and deploy
back-and-forth
application
integration within
days or weeks
instead of
months or years
Just as a grizzled and gleeful
miner might shout "there's
gold in them thar hills,"
modern-day organizations of
many stripes are expressing
similar sentiments by opening
their once-closed resources
to the world. And the benefits
seem endless, whether it's
quickly offering new services,
speeding up development time,
or integrating years of data
and legacy applications across
platforms.
For its part, USAA's goal is to
REST-enable as many capabilities
as it can, regardless, for example,
of which platform its core
applications and data are residing
on-the mainframe, in this case.
"This will give us greater
flexibility and mobility to handle
the demand of our capabilities
to service our members and
service reps, introduce quicker
change, improve the user
experience and enhance the
development experience in our
programmer environment,"
Wilson notes.
Jim Utsler, senior writer for
IBM Systems Magazine, has been
covering technology for more than
20 years.
ibmsystemsmag.com JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 // 17

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